This NCAER study started at the request of Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) in 2018 is part of the Working Group initiative in which six pilot districts were selected for preparing District Strategic Plans based on local research and extensive stakeholder consultation. The six districts included Sindhudurg and Ratnagiri in Maharashtra, Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, Muzaffarpur in Bihar, Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, and Solan in Himachal Pradesh. This NCAER study covers Sindhudurg, Ratnagiri, and Solan: the other districts are covered by Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow.